AJF LIVE: In Conversation with emiko oye & Nikki Couppee

Join me and fellow art jeweler, Nikki Couppee for a conversation from inside our Bay Area studios, talking about our work and what we’ve been up to during these times of COVID and Shelter-In-Place. This is a free, live-streaming Zoom meeting hosted by the Art Jewelry Forum (AJF) and moderated by AJF President, Yvonne Montoya. We’ll be taking live questions from the audience, so please tune in!

Studio visits are a favorite event among AJF members. Who isn’t intrigued by peeking behind the curtain? As more of us are now settling into “shelter in place” mode, AJF would still like to continue its tradition of bringing you up-close and personal with visits to artists’ studios and the jewelry we love. We can do it together, virtually—and we’re opening it up to members and nonmembers alike!

WHEN: Thursday, June 18th, 9-10am PST

Listen to the recording here:  https://artjewelryforum.org/ajf-live-with-nikki-couppee-emiko-oye-0

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Nikki Couppee is originally from Pensacola Beach, Florida and is currently residing in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She received an M.F.A. from Kent State University, Jewelry/Metals, Kent, Ohio, 2011 and a B.F.A. from the University of Georgia, Athens Georgia, Jewelry/Metals, 2007.  Her work has been featured in publications including American Craft, Allure Australia, Marie Claire Australia, Metalsmith Magazine, Modern Magazine, Vogue Brazil, Dailycandy and Lark Book’s 500 Enameled Objects. She shows her work nationally and internationally through exhibitions, gallery representation, fairs and recent collaboration for Paris Fashion Week with the Australian designers, Romance was Born.  Her work was selected for SCHMUCK 2018 in Munich, LOOT at the Museum of Art and Design in NYC, Racine Art Museum, and SIERAAD International Jewelry Fair, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  She has taught enameling and jewelry/metals techniques at Kent State University, The Cleveland Institute of Art and The Crucible in West Oakland.

me and Nikki at NYCJW, November 2019

The Making of Moonbeam Anthems

Google Play playlist for Moonbeam Anthems

Blackstar pins for SNAGnext 2016 & Lazarus Eye Mask

Fine silver sheet layout of pin backings

Moonbeam Anthems pins series

Music has been a driving force in the creation of my one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces these last few years, and the Moonbeam Anthems is no exception, with an added dose of nostalgia and young unrequited love that are often embedded in our favorite songs from days past.

Originally this series was created for the invitational exhibition "Celestial: Comets, Cupids, and other Heavenly Bodies" at Facére Jewelry Art Gallery in Seattle, WA, February 2017. When I was asked to participate back in April 2016, I was deep into my David Bowie Tributes - Lazarus and the Blackstar Collection. You might say that Moonbeam Anthems is a variation on a theme from those series, a merging of the Blackstar album-inspired pins I created for the Society of North American Goldsmiths' SNAGnext conference (where I gave a marketing presentation you can now watch on YouTube) and the eyemask of my Lazarus piece.

The creation of Moonbeam Anthems began with an Anthem Song from my wistful and romantically-tortured teen years in the early 90s - Depeche Mode's "Waiting for the Night". I'm a night-owl by genetic design, invigorated by working in the stillness and clarity of the evening hours. Much like making a mixed tape for a beloved, I put together the Celestial Playlist on Google Play (which you can listen to here if you're a Google  Play subscriber). Not only did I play this mix on endless repeat while making the work, the songs themselves shaped the work, key lyrics stamped into the fine silver backings on the pins. Bowie, Prince, Hedwig & the Angry Inch, and Depeche Mode are featured in the first four pins of the series.

Want to hear more about my process in making these pins? You can listen to my artist talk via my YouTube channel, the 10 minute video is embedded below. Enjoy!